Changing uni course in second year

[PJ67]

My niece has just finished 1st year at university but she hasn't been very happy and I asked her if she would like to change to a different course and she said she would but she thought she would have to go back to first year. I think she's just resigned herself to carrying and is very shy so I don't think she'll go and speak to anyone. Would there be a possibility of going straight to second year on a different course or would it mean starting again? Thanks

It depends very much on what course she is doing and what she wants to switch to, and even whether the two courses are at the same university. It boils down to whether the new course will accept the credits she has already completed towards the new degree. Switching from biology to zoology? Might be fine. From chemistry to art history? Unlikely. It will be further complicated if the course she wants to switch to is accredited by a professional body which requires that certain standards are met (which essential means topics covered) and where in the course this is done. Really, the only way for her to get an answer to the question is for her to speak to the programme director or admission tutor for the course she wants to switch to.

Probably not. Depends on the course. Luckily student finance offers 4 years of UG loan

If she is thinking about something quite different, then she would almost certainly have to start again with first year. She needs to contact the relevant department at the university/ies she is interested in transferring to and ask what her options are.

Depends but those I know of redo first year or combine subjects. Some unis do more of a mix and match first year programme which enables swapping the main subject later on though. She needs to talk to her tutor initially.

10 years ago I transferred mid way through my course.

I did first year at one university and the second and third at another university in London.

It does depend on the university as one didn't accept transfer students.

It was relatively easy process, just a matter of calling and speaking with the course tutor. Then had to pass on copies of my exam results.

I did this in the February/March though. It's June now, so it might be too late for this year. But definitely worth a try before the universities close for summer 😀

Universities do not close for the summer.
Her tutor is unlikely to be much help.
It is entirely possible without redoing the first year, but that depends on the courses.
It is not too late for next year.
She needs to speak to the department she wants to move to.

It can be possible if the courses are related to switch at the end of the first year into the second year of a different course if there is overlapping core content in the first year of the two courses (I did it!)

Universities do not close for the summer They certainly give the appearance of closing!

Universities do not close for the summer They certainly give the appearance of closing!

That's because there aren't many students around. But most of the admin staff and many of the academic staff are still there.

No, perhaps I shouldn't have said 'closed for the summer'. But the majority of staff take their holidays during the summer holidays while students are off. So the process of transferring might be slower.

She hasn't got anything to lose by contacting the course leader of the prospective university.

DD has just done that, same city but different university. She’s gone from something creative to a language degree, sat trsts and then was accepted once she put her UCAS form in.

Thanks all. She is thinking of moving from law to psychology. They are both in social sciences which might make it easier. She spoke to someone today and they said it's often possible to go straight to 2nd year but they would need to check with psychology as it's an accredited course so some modules may be compulsory so the dept may want her to repeat first year. Not sure she's decided for sure, it's so difficult for them when they're so young to know what they want to do.

She will have to talk to Psychology, but because it is an accredited course she should be prepared to be told that she has to go into the first year. BPS accredited degrees need to meet certain standards, and cover topics set our in the QAA subject benchmark. It is quite common for much of those topics to be covered in the first two years, leaving a required research project and optional modules to the final year. If so, it is very unlikely that anything she has done for her law degree will count. There is, however, a great deal of variation in the structure of psychology degrees, so is may be possible - only the psychology department will know.

If she did A level psychology she may gave covered parts of the first year anyway
Definitely worth asking .